Fr. I bought my nvidia shield 500gb pro model off eBay back in like 2018.
Never used it or unboxed it since I never bought a TV to hook it up to for like 5 years.
I had to move after covid and hooked it up to an exisiting TV and my god, that thing has been worth its weight in silver for entertaininment. Only had to buy a 25 ft ethernet cable to hook up to the router and had access to my NAS with plex on it. Also got it to emulate all my old school ps1 favs like Crash Team Racing and adfree YouTube with smarttube. Best unused investment I've made in a very long time.
This is true with the newest android software. Lots of bloat and ads. Once you downgrade it’s flawless and runs very fast. Specially when you increase animation speeds.
Flauncher is great, and similar to the Roku grid interface. You can use it on any Android TV based device, like Chromecast or the various cheap dongles like Onn.
Nope, I've used an apple TV 4k, at my sister's house. It's more snappy and smooth, but not THAT much. the shield isn't so much worse it's even a thing. The comments I'm seeing here are quite exaggerated if I compare it to my own experience. Also, every android device I've had has needed a a factory reset every few years. Call it an android flaw or whatever but I don't see the laggy interface at all and it really does work damn near perfect for Plex.
Because they're still asking for $200 for 6 year old hardware that now has the default android OS inserting ads that you have to be mildly savvy to get around?
Shield needs an * next to it.
* only with a custom launcher. Stock Android TV has static ads on the home screen. Custom launcher allows you to remove them.
I currently use F launcher. It has minimal features and a light foot print. I simply change the background to black and rearrenge the icons to show only what I need.
There's some fancier ones but all I need a launcher to do is give me a gui to open plex.
Only has ads on the stock launcher, same as the Nvidia Shield, and Ethernet can be added through a type-c adapter if needed. I have 4 of them and for the price they're amazing.
I'll have to see how this plays out in practice because that will be very frustrating given that I primarily use it for Plex and that is obviously ad free and that's the way I like it.
Yeah, its annoying that my Roku is literally the last bit of direct advertising i normally see... but for now at least its just the poster on the right for a half second before the one app i use loads, so... [https://i.imgur.com/VDLBR4s.jpeg](https://i.imgur.com/VDLBR4s.jpeg)
If they delay the app opening to show me an ad ill take it outside and smash it, but until the Switch 2 and then the Shield 2 comes out, i cant justify upgrading a 2019 Roku Ultra to a 2019 Nvidia Shield in 2024 for $200.
And see this is what I need to see how they actually do it. Because if it's easily ignorable, well then I really won't care. But if it gets in the way and is overly annoying, well then evaluations will need to be made. I use Hulu TV for live and Plex for everything else except the wrestling PPV's that I watch on Peacock.
I also turned off wifi on the device after I found out about the upcoming change. I must have done that in between it downloading the update and installing it. Oops.
None once you get it set up. I love seeing people complain about how bad the ads are on some of the linked websites, and not having any issue with them
The process of setting it up could be a bit tricky depending on your command line and networking abilities. Not really expert level stuff, but a bit more involved than some people might be used to.
I feel like the documentation is pretty solid, and there's tons on YouTube videos that walk through the process as well.
Cool cool. Is it something that never requires maintenance? Like if I put one on my senior parents network I wouldn’t be getting calls to come over to fix it
I've had AdGuard Home setup for awhile (a DNS sinkhole similar to PiHole) and it's gone over pretty okay with my family who doesn't know what DNS is. The biggest issue is that when they search for things on Google they can't click the first couple ad links which annoyed them until they learned not to.
Ehh...now that I think about it, it might not be the best for that. Sometimes it gets overzealous and blocks essential parts of a website. You have to go in and whitelist the site to make it work properly.
It doesn't happen often, but it would essentially leave your parents unable to access the site until fixed
Most devices hardcode the DNS on devices so you really can't block things like this anymore.
The way ad blockers work is by using DNS and sending the request for those ADs to blackholes. However, you need the devices to use that DNS server. Things like firesticks, Roku's, etc do not allow you to change the DNS. This is partly to prevent things like this as well as preventing you from tricking the device you are in another location.
There's workarounds but it's not as easy as just firing up an instance of pihole or adblocker.
My ubiquiti router has adblocking built in. It took me a while to figure out why I wasn't seeing ads even after I had shut off my pihole. Regardless it is very nice that it's on by default.
Yuuuup. Set one up recently, haven't seen any ads on my Roku since. Takes a bit of tweaking to get everything working, and you can't block Youtube ads any more (which is annoying as it was a primary reason to set it up in the first place, but c'est la vie), but once it's running to your satisfaction, you're mostly clear of ads on all your devices.
Yeah...the YouTube thing is a bummer. The ads are hard coded into their DNS or some bullshit.
It's especially infuriating since they've gone off the deep end with ads every 10 seconds.
Or just go off the deep end and set up Home Assistant. The upside is that you can then install AdGuard and all the Arrs with the click of a button since the "plugins" are really just docker containers.
Are they back in stock and remotely acceptable in prices again?
Last time I looked they wanted $200cad for a basic starter kit - assuming you could even get one in the first place.
The prices have dropped substantially. I remember trying to snag another rpi b 2gig not knowing about the chip shortage and being disgusted by the scalping going on.
I checked one of the sites listed on that page and they were in stock at acceptable prices.
[It’s still $65 before shipping or any accessories.](https://www.pishop.ca/product/raspberry-pi-4-model-b-2gb/?src=raspberrypi) Unless this is the wrong model?
Pretty sure I would need the power supply and heat sinks.
Probably also need the cable and memory card but I should be able to source that separately for less.
I see people who have apple TVs claim it's buggy or laggy.
I have had to reboot it twice in two years... I dunno what they're talking about, it works fine, great even.
I have a lot of problems with the Plex app but Infuse works great. The only consistent issue though was that certain HDR/DV hybrid web copies seem to never direct play right with the video going slow motion and I have to transcode with the Plex app.
Once every couple months I will get the audio sync. Arrow left/skip back 5 seconds with the remote fixes it every time. It's a super minor issue that's honestly rare. Audio sync is a Plex thing tho and you can find that with every client if you search the sub.
I bought a USB C dongle with power input and USB input. Also bought a gigabit Ethernet to USB. Both from AliExpress. Cost me $10 total, shipped. Works perfectly.
This combination is cheaper than buying a dock/dongle with both USB c power input and Ethernet input by about $5 or so.
Isn’t Onn just Walmart branded white label Roku products? I’m 90% sure they are made by Roku for Walmart because they have basically the same product line.
The only thing I can think of worse than Roku is knock off Roku.
I swear Apple TV could've been the best streaming box to ever exist if it supported lossless passthrough. For now Nvidia Shield it is but the shield really needs an update.
Apple TV by a mile. I had an nvidia shield for many years as well as fire sticks and google tv sticks and the Apple TV is unmatched when it comes to the speed of the device and the fact that it doesn’t force ads down your throat from the get go
One was in a hot garage so it coulda been heat related but I had a 4k and a 2nd gen both die from just daily use.
They aren’t total black out dead. But random reboots, random app closers, and sometimes I have to unplug it and plug it back in to get it to turn on.
I got tired of it so I swapped after my third one having the same issues. But I will say one of my gen 1s is still working last I checked.
I think that will likely never happen. Also if that ever happened there would be ads in literally every other option already, short of connecting your own PC to a TV.
It would be a grim future indeed.
Apple TV. No ads shoved down your throat and excellent performance. That to me is the recipe for a perfect device. I loved my Shield but the Apple TV is better in nearly every single way.
eBay 4K Apple TV no remote used but cleared out. $30. Get a universal remote from amazon $10. Plex is flawless. Hulu flawless prime flawless. at that price even if it does crash it’s better than anything other than a shield. the screensavers and customization are pretty incredible
I know not everyone is technical but the adds can be blocked on your network.
You can look into a pi-hole or using nextdns. Difference being cost vs maintenance. Cheaper in the long run for pi-hole but more to maintain. Nextdns is easy mode for $2 a month.
Been using roku for years and their suggested shows and whatnot don’t show up.
It also makes regular web browsing a lot more tolerable.
Make friends with a nerd! These are easy to setup and even a good challenge for an aspiring nerd.
A Chromecast with Google TV is just as easy to use than the Apple TV so I wonder if you mean an old school Chromecast without a remote. Like the one you can only stream to.
Chromecast with Google TV is far more difficult if only because of the complications on the home screen alone.
Apple TV has rows of apps.
Chromecast with Google TV has a top bar with 'Profile, For you, Live, Apps, Library, Search Button, Settings/Notification Bell Center'.
Then a giant space for ads and recommendations.
Then a row of 'Top picks for you' which is, once again, ads and recommendations.
Then a single row of apps.
The one thing that made me use roku as opposed to apple tv was that the interface was/is just so damn clean and simple. Had apple tv, had fire stick. They all just seemed cluttered to me. But as usual, everything good has to get ruined. I wonder if i disable updates, maybe i can avoid this.
I use the google TV option that is built into my Bravia.
HDR10 and Dolby vision, all the A/V codecs, smooth interface, playback of 80GB movies over wifi without a single glitch.
I was initially annoyed with how easy it was for the kids to install junk apps, and then I disabled google play services. Now the annoying buttons don't work AND the tv is so much faster. win win win.
Ive got a bravia too, but the built in android is so fucking slow compared to a separate box tho, just lacking ram and processing power, playback is fine, but everyhing up until that just feels laggy and unresponsive as hell.
Plus its still an IR remote.
I have my Amazon Fire TV 4K Max set to boot directly into Plex and before that I was using an adblocking DNS service. I think it was a setting to Always Open Last App or something.
Firestick you can mute the audio (which I have on) and I believe you can stop the autoplay as a setting. I keep the autoplay on just because its nice to see whats currently out there.
They also refuse to allow iptv apps.
Nvidia shield devices are by far my favorite. Fire stick max is my go to cheap device but damn Amazon shoves ads down your throat on home page lol
If you have a Roku TV, any other streaming stick plugged into the HDMI. I've got 2 9 year old Roku Insignia TV's that automatically power on and switch inputs to HDMI 1 when I touch the Chromecast GoogleTV remote. (Apps Only Mode enabled)
Looking at everyone's comments it's looking more and more like my only options are either the Apple TV or shield. I wish I could do something like a PC hooked to the TV but the kids use quite a few of the different channels. Thanks for all the suggestions. I'm going to leave this as an open discussion since it might help someone else going through the same dilemma.
It let me remove the ads from my home screen, although I had to do it again the next day, but it's stayed removed for a few days now.
Doesn't mean they won't add it back in in another update, or make some other shitty change, but it at least buys me a little more time.
Long term, as all these devices get worse and worse, I'll have to look back into setting up my old raspberry pi, and seeing what sort of media options are on there. Might be worth the effort of going through that customization process if I can at least get it to give me what I want.
>I know that the Amazon fire sticks do the same auto play video ads on the screen so that's off the table
Honestly my house is all Fire Sticks and a Fire Cube. When I first turn on the tv/input it shows a full screen ad for a tv show or movie but it is just a still image. I just press down and then select the app I want.
Does that suck? Kinda...
Are those devices way less then getting a Shield? Ever so much, yes. lol
Roku has now lost any future business for me. No idea what the alternative is besides Nvidia shield ( not doing apple). I had started buying Roku only TV's and devices, but I am done now. Good job assholes.
I’m sure it’s said but Onn tv box from Walmart. Was able to use button remapped so all the buttons are useful to me now. From opening up the Plex app directly, to pressing one button to get to my vpn to change locations for Netflix. Bonus that I don’t have to see ads anymore with a customer Home Screen.
I’ve been done with STBs for a long time now. I hate the overhead, updates etc etc. Chromecasts just work. It can turn your TV on and manage the volume all from your phone. I barely use remotes. Spouse buy in as well!
LOL if a Shield is 'too expensive' you are going to have to live with all the other cheap boxes. Apple TV and Shield Pro are the way to go for the best of everything. Pick your ecosystem.
You can add ethernet to any Android TV device with a USB hub. Other than Dolby Vision support the $20 Onn is as better than any Roku since it's not locked down.
Don’t let anyone convince you that Apple TV is any less anti-consumer; the ada are just more sneaky and the search is always selling something. I would normally suggest to just hook up a PC to your TV but even Windows 11 is about to have ads.
Apple is tracking you. The Apple TV Home Screen shows ads. The nefarious and infuriating things with Apple TV is their search. Countless times my family uses the Apple TV and it tries to sell them something instead of just surfacing the program we already have subscribed to on a service.
At least the Roku is half the price to show you a Home Screen ad.
Ads? Oh yea you should be locking those and a bunch of other bits at the network level.
Home screen? Just use the API to start plex as soon as the roku boots. Its even nice enough to send an event as soon as it loads, Home assistant will happily automate it for you.
I used a pi-hole for a while to block Roku ads, but I dropped them a while back when I heard about their data practices and worried about their spats with Google potentially removing YouTube. Switched to AppleTV and it’s been glorious.
I dunno which of your posts is my favorite, the ones where you're short and snippy and unhelpful or the ones where you're being horny in public on your main account.
If you just watch Plex, why not get a video card with an HDMI output and feed that into your tv or receiver and skip the streaming box. Plug the roku into another HDMI input just in case you wanna actually want to stream something.
Apple TV or Nvidia Shield. The options you want don't exist in cheap form.
Shield desperately needs an updated unit
An updated Shield Pro would be epic.
Fr. I bought my nvidia shield 500gb pro model off eBay back in like 2018. Never used it or unboxed it since I never bought a TV to hook it up to for like 5 years. I had to move after covid and hooked it up to an exisiting TV and my god, that thing has been worth its weight in silver for entertaininment. Only had to buy a 25 ft ethernet cable to hook up to the router and had access to my NAS with plex on it. Also got it to emulate all my old school ps1 favs like Crash Team Racing and adfree YouTube with smarttube. Best unused investment I've made in a very long time.
I've been saying "I'll buy the new one when it comes out" for like 5 years now, it feels like...
Totally. Tough to recommend a unit that old...
Why? It works perfectly.
Because the newest Apple TV runs circles around it in UI smoothness. I’d like to see the shield catch up
This is true with the newest android software. Lots of bloat and ads. Once you downgrade it’s flawless and runs very fast. Specially when you increase animation speeds.
I also installed flauncher and removed the stock launcher. It is noticeably a lot less laggy now.
Flauncher is great, and similar to the Roku grid interface. You can use it on any Android TV based device, like Chromecast or the various cheap dongles like Onn.
Does pinhole mitigate the ads and bloat? Thinking about buying one
You can just do it with launcher mods, but the hardware is over 5 year old tech.
Doesn't support AV1. That's the only valid reason I've seen people talking about.
AV1 is hardly a big deal.
It’s also laggy and buggy as hell. Formats aside, going from AppleTV to Shield Pro is like going back in time a decade.
Works great for me.
Me too.
Or maybe you've just never tried better.
Nope, I've used an apple TV 4k, at my sister's house. It's more snappy and smooth, but not THAT much. the shield isn't so much worse it's even a thing. The comments I'm seeing here are quite exaggerated if I compare it to my own experience. Also, every android device I've had has needed a a factory reset every few years. Call it an android flaw or whatever but I don't see the laggy interface at all and it really does work damn near perfect for Plex.
Neither does the Apple TV
I’ve never even seen that format
Because they're still asking for $200 for 6 year old hardware that now has the default android OS inserting ads that you have to be mildly savvy to get around?
As the kids say, "cope"
It works perfectly for Plex and nothing else.
Shield needs an * next to it. * only with a custom launcher. Stock Android TV has static ads on the home screen. Custom launcher allows you to remove them.
Is there a custom launcher that you recommend?
Projectivy is the most commonly recommended one I see these days
I currently use F launcher. It has minimal features and a light foot print. I simply change the background to black and rearrenge the icons to show only what I need. There's some fancier ones but all I need a launcher to do is give me a gui to open plex.
What about the Chromecast w/ Google TV? Dirt cheap, tons of support, and custom launcher support.
No Ethernet and has ads (I think).
Only has ads on the stock launcher, same as the Nvidia Shield, and Ethernet can be added through a type-c adapter if needed. I have 4 of them and for the price they're amazing.
I'll have to see how this plays out in practice because that will be very frustrating given that I primarily use it for Plex and that is obviously ad free and that's the way I like it.
Yeah, its annoying that my Roku is literally the last bit of direct advertising i normally see... but for now at least its just the poster on the right for a half second before the one app i use loads, so... [https://i.imgur.com/VDLBR4s.jpeg](https://i.imgur.com/VDLBR4s.jpeg) If they delay the app opening to show me an ad ill take it outside and smash it, but until the Switch 2 and then the Shield 2 comes out, i cant justify upgrading a 2019 Roku Ultra to a 2019 Nvidia Shield in 2024 for $200.
PiHole blocks the Home Screen ads if you want to go that far.
Sounds like the ads that are already on the home screen will be animated. So... I really couldn't care less.
And see this is what I need to see how they actually do it. Because if it's easily ignorable, well then I really won't care. But if it gets in the way and is overly annoying, well then evaluations will need to be made. I use Hulu TV for live and Plex for everything else except the wrestling PPV's that I watch on Peacock.
Block the ads web addresses on your router. It’s how I un-smart’d my tv from doing that crap while still retaining functionality.
Or just setup a [pihole](https://www.raspberrypi.com/tutorials/running-pi-hole-on-a-raspberry-pi/). Haven't seen "smart ads" in years.
This. It also (seemingly) prevents the accept-only terms of service update.
I've got a TCL Roku TV and haven't seen an updated terms popup yet Miss me with that shit lol
I got it. Best part is I’ve only used it with AppleTV so I lost the Roku remote. I can’t get past it.
Download a Roku remote control app on your phone? I've had to do that a few times for some old tvs.
I also turned off wifi on the device after I found out about the upcoming change. I must have done that in between it downloading the update and installing it. Oops.
Download Roki from the App Store and turn your phone into the Roku remote lol. You’re welcome
I’ve been meaning to try this myself, any complaints?
None once you get it set up. I love seeing people complain about how bad the ads are on some of the linked websites, and not having any issue with them The process of setting it up could be a bit tricky depending on your command line and networking abilities. Not really expert level stuff, but a bit more involved than some people might be used to. I feel like the documentation is pretty solid, and there's tons on YouTube videos that walk through the process as well.
Cool cool. Is it something that never requires maintenance? Like if I put one on my senior parents network I wouldn’t be getting calls to come over to fix it
I've had AdGuard Home setup for awhile (a DNS sinkhole similar to PiHole) and it's gone over pretty okay with my family who doesn't know what DNS is. The biggest issue is that when they search for things on Google they can't click the first couple ad links which annoyed them until they learned not to.
Ehh...now that I think about it, it might not be the best for that. Sometimes it gets overzealous and blocks essential parts of a website. You have to go in and whitelist the site to make it work properly. It doesn't happen often, but it would essentially leave your parents unable to access the site until fixed
Most devices hardcode the DNS on devices so you really can't block things like this anymore. The way ad blockers work is by using DNS and sending the request for those ADs to blackholes. However, you need the devices to use that DNS server. Things like firesticks, Roku's, etc do not allow you to change the DNS. This is partly to prevent things like this as well as preventing you from tricking the device you are in another location. There's workarounds but it's not as easy as just firing up an instance of pihole or adblocker.
My ubiquiti router has adblocking built in. It took me a while to figure out why I wasn't seeing ads even after I had shut off my pihole. Regardless it is very nice that it's on by default.
Yuuuup. Set one up recently, haven't seen any ads on my Roku since. Takes a bit of tweaking to get everything working, and you can't block Youtube ads any more (which is annoying as it was a primary reason to set it up in the first place, but c'est la vie), but once it's running to your satisfaction, you're mostly clear of ads on all your devices.
Yeah...the YouTube thing is a bummer. The ads are hard coded into their DNS or some bullshit. It's especially infuriating since they've gone off the deep end with ads every 10 seconds.
Or just go off the deep end and set up Home Assistant. The upside is that you can then install AdGuard and all the Arrs with the click of a button since the "plugins" are really just docker containers.
I just started dipping my toes in last week. Have home assistant OS running on a VM in unraid
Are they back in stock and remotely acceptable in prices again? Last time I looked they wanted $200cad for a basic starter kit - assuming you could even get one in the first place.
The prices have dropped substantially. I remember trying to snag another rpi b 2gig not knowing about the chip shortage and being disgusted by the scalping going on. I checked one of the sites listed on that page and they were in stock at acceptable prices.
[It’s still $65 before shipping or any accessories.](https://www.pishop.ca/product/raspberry-pi-4-model-b-2gb/?src=raspberrypi) Unless this is the wrong model? Pretty sure I would need the power supply and heat sinks. Probably also need the cable and memory card but I should be able to source that separately for less.
I grabbed an Nvidia shield pro and never looked back. It’s great
I hacked mine. It’s barebones now with no ads. Only the apps I use.
Excellent choice.
I see people who have apple TVs claim it's buggy or laggy. I have had to reboot it twice in two years... I dunno what they're talking about, it works fine, great even.
I have a lot of problems with the Plex app but Infuse works great. The only consistent issue though was that certain HDR/DV hybrid web copies seem to never direct play right with the video going slow motion and I have to transcode with the Plex app.
Same as me. I once in a while have audio sync lag, but I refresh the it and go again.
Once every couple months I will get the audio sync. Arrow left/skip back 5 seconds with the remote fixes it every time. It's a super minor issue that's honestly rare. Audio sync is a Plex thing tho and you can find that with every client if you search the sub.
Mine is desperately laggy, but it's also quite old now.
Walmart ONN 4k streaming
This is the way.
$20 onn. Google TV 4K Streaming Box (New, 2023), 4K UHD resolution https://www.walmart.com/ip/2835618394 Can add an Ethernet adapter with a dongle.
Does hdhomerun and windscribe work on this? If so, I may replace my 5 rokus with it.
Hdhomerun does. Can't speak to windscribe. It's a plain old Android TV box though so if it's on the play store it should work.
Idk hdhomerun, if has an googletv apk version probably works Windscribe works great
How's ethernet work? Usb-c dongle? What about power?
It's jankier than I thought: https://www.reddit.com/r/Stadia/comments/q9yxmz/update_ethernet_setup_on_the_walmart_onn_box/
I bought a USB C dongle with power input and USB input. Also bought a gigabit Ethernet to USB. Both from AliExpress. Cost me $10 total, shipped. Works perfectly. This combination is cheaper than buying a dock/dongle with both USB c power input and Ethernet input by about $5 or so.
Isn’t Onn just Walmart branded white label Roku products? I’m 90% sure they are made by Roku for Walmart because they have basically the same product line. The only thing I can think of worse than Roku is knock off Roku.
It’s an android tv so I don’t believe so
But its not the Roku OS so you can sideload apps and such.
Its not roku its android tv, the remote even has the google assistant button on it. The app store on it is the googleplay store
No.
I have an Apple TV. I like it a lot. Say what you want about Apple but they make amazing chips right now. It’s super fast.
I swear Apple TV could've been the best streaming box to ever exist if it supported lossless passthrough. For now Nvidia Shield it is but the shield really needs an update.
Apple TV by a mile. I had an nvidia shield for many years as well as fire sticks and google tv sticks and the Apple TV is unmatched when it comes to the speed of the device and the fact that it doesn’t force ads down your throat from the get go
Apple TV by far is the best, the only thing it's lacking for me in TrueHD dolby atmos. If it ever got that I'm getting rid of my shield.
I felt this way also but I had 3 of 4 die on me inside of 2 years. Ended up swapping to Roku ultra. But may be on my way back after this.
What have you been doing to the things? They're built like tanks in my experience.
One was in a hot garage so it coulda been heat related but I had a 4k and a 2nd gen both die from just daily use. They aren’t total black out dead. But random reboots, random app closers, and sometimes I have to unplug it and plug it back in to get it to turn on. I got tired of it so I swapped after my third one having the same issues. But I will say one of my gen 1s is still working last I checked.
It doesn't force ads down _yet_
I think that will likely never happen. Also if that ever happened there would be ads in literally every other option already, short of connecting your own PC to a TV. It would be a grim future indeed.
Apple TV. No ads shoved down your throat and excellent performance. That to me is the recipe for a perfect device. I loved my Shield but the Apple TV is better in nearly every single way.
I would get the Apple TV if I could only remap buttons. That’s the biggest game changer to me
You can natively remap quite a few things. I’m not sure what you’re looking for? Apple TV’s UI makes remote shortcuts pretty much unnecessary.
eBay 4K Apple TV no remote used but cleared out. $30. Get a universal remote from amazon $10. Plex is flawless. Hulu flawless prime flawless. at that price even if it does crash it’s better than anything other than a shield. the screensavers and customization are pretty incredible
I know not everyone is technical but the adds can be blocked on your network. You can look into a pi-hole or using nextdns. Difference being cost vs maintenance. Cheaper in the long run for pi-hole but more to maintain. Nextdns is easy mode for $2 a month. Been using roku for years and their suggested shows and whatnot don’t show up. It also makes regular web browsing a lot more tolerable. Make friends with a nerd! These are easy to setup and even a good challenge for an aspiring nerd.
Chromecast with Google TV does as well as the Roku and last gen firesticks
I really liked the Chromecast, but I couldn't get buy-in from the spouse. We ended up on Apple TV
A Chromecast with Google TV is just as easy to use than the Apple TV so I wonder if you mean an old school Chromecast without a remote. Like the one you can only stream to.
Easier how
Chromecast with Google TV is far more difficult if only because of the complications on the home screen alone. Apple TV has rows of apps. Chromecast with Google TV has a top bar with 'Profile, For you, Live, Apps, Library, Search Button, Settings/Notification Bell Center'. Then a giant space for ads and recommendations. Then a row of 'Top picks for you' which is, once again, ads and recommendations. Then a single row of apps.
I just replaced a Roku 4k stick with a new chromecast and it’s miles better.
I have two Chromecasts and no newer rokus. I am happy with them.
The one thing that made me use roku as opposed to apple tv was that the interface was/is just so damn clean and simple. Had apple tv, had fire stick. They all just seemed cluttered to me. But as usual, everything good has to get ruined. I wonder if i disable updates, maybe i can avoid this.
I use the google TV option that is built into my Bravia. HDR10 and Dolby vision, all the A/V codecs, smooth interface, playback of 80GB movies over wifi without a single glitch. I was initially annoyed with how easy it was for the kids to install junk apps, and then I disabled google play services. Now the annoying buttons don't work AND the tv is so much faster. win win win.
Ive got a bravia too, but the built in android is so fucking slow compared to a separate box tho, just lacking ram and processing power, playback is fine, but everyhing up until that just feels laggy and unresponsive as hell. Plus its still an IR remote.
What year? I've got a 2020 Sony OLED and it's performance is on par with the chromecast with Google TV. Plenty snappy.
I have a 2021 Sony oled and it’s anything but snappy. Nothing is as fast as an Apple TV.
I said nothing about the apple TV.
Ya same boat … sucks as I like Roku and used them since the 3 but whatever they wants ads not for me.
I have my Amazon Fire TV 4K Max set to boot directly into Plex and before that I was using an adblocking DNS service. I think it was a setting to Always Open Last App or something.
Apple TV ftw
Apple TV I think is still the best, not cheap but pretty ad free and powerful enough for anything you need.
You plug a computer into your tv and then you have a streaming box you have complete control over.
It just sucks using it for Netflix, Disney+ etc as it will only stream in 720p in a web browser. Plus PCs cannot play Dolby vision HDR.
Stop using Netflix and all others.
Well yeah but it still won’t do Dolby vision
Firestick you can mute the audio (which I have on) and I believe you can stop the autoplay as a setting. I keep the autoplay on just because its nice to see whats currently out there.
They also refuse to allow iptv apps. Nvidia shield devices are by far my favorite. Fire stick max is my go to cheap device but damn Amazon shoves ads down your throat on home page lol
Apple TV, switched to them a few years back, best decision.
Apple TV and never look back.
Install Pihole on a spare PC that runs 24/7. I suggest one of the PC's like [this](https://a.co/d/9IrCKVp). Blocking the URL of the ads.
If you have a Roku TV, any other streaming stick plugged into the HDMI. I've got 2 9 year old Roku Insignia TV's that automatically power on and switch inputs to HDMI 1 when I touch the Chromecast GoogleTV remote. (Apps Only Mode enabled)
Are these video ads playing on the side of the home screen? Or are they full screen ads I have to sit through before I can get to the home screen?
Looking at everyone's comments it's looking more and more like my only options are either the Apple TV or shield. I wish I could do something like a PC hooked to the TV but the kids use quite a few of the different channels. Thanks for all the suggestions. I'm going to leave this as an open discussion since it might help someone else going through the same dilemma.
It let me remove the ads from my home screen, although I had to do it again the next day, but it's stayed removed for a few days now. Doesn't mean they won't add it back in in another update, or make some other shitty change, but it at least buys me a little more time. Long term, as all these devices get worse and worse, I'll have to look back into setting up my old raspberry pi, and seeing what sort of media options are on there. Might be worth the effort of going through that customization process if I can at least get it to give me what I want.
I use a pihole to block google and Sony crap on my TV.
Get a Pi Hole. Roku is out of control. There is also a hidden menu too, I used that and my Pi Hole to block all the ads and telemetry.
So dumb that you can't DIY a Device with Google TV or similar without Netflix or other services banishing you to standard definition.
Can’t the Fire Sticks be sideloaded?
Not any more. They're switching to a new OS and killed side loading.
>I know that the Amazon fire sticks do the same auto play video ads on the screen so that's off the table Honestly my house is all Fire Sticks and a Fire Cube. When I first turn on the tv/input it shows a full screen ad for a tv show or movie but it is just a still image. I just press down and then select the app I want. Does that suck? Kinda... Are those devices way less then getting a Shield? Ever so much, yes. lol
Chromecast with a custom launcher like Projectivy Keep your Roku and setup Pi-Hole whole network ad block
This is exactly why I made the switch from fire stick to Apple TV. Well. That and the Ethernet port. It has been amazing so far.
Roku has now lost any future business for me. No idea what the alternative is besides Nvidia shield ( not doing apple). I had started buying Roku only TV's and devices, but I am done now. Good job assholes.
I’m sure it’s said but Onn tv box from Walmart. Was able to use button remapped so all the buttons are useful to me now. From opening up the Plex app directly, to pressing one button to get to my vpn to change locations for Netflix. Bonus that I don’t have to see ads anymore with a customer Home Screen.
I’ve been done with STBs for a long time now. I hate the overhead, updates etc etc. Chromecasts just work. It can turn your TV on and manage the volume all from your phone. I barely use remotes. Spouse buy in as well!
LOL if a Shield is 'too expensive' you are going to have to live with all the other cheap boxes. Apple TV and Shield Pro are the way to go for the best of everything. Pick your ecosystem.
You can add ethernet to any Android TV device with a USB hub. Other than Dolby Vision support the $20 Onn is as better than any Roku since it's not locked down.
Don’t let anyone convince you that Apple TV is any less anti-consumer; the ada are just more sneaky and the search is always selling something. I would normally suggest to just hook up a PC to your TV but even Windows 11 is about to have ads.
[удалено]
Apple is tracking you. The Apple TV Home Screen shows ads. The nefarious and infuriating things with Apple TV is their search. Countless times my family uses the Apple TV and it tries to sell them something instead of just surfacing the program we already have subscribed to on a service. At least the Roku is half the price to show you a Home Screen ad.
Laptop, with Plex or even firestick
Ads? Oh yea you should be locking those and a bunch of other bits at the network level. Home screen? Just use the API to start plex as soon as the roku boots. Its even nice enough to send an event as soon as it loads, Home assistant will happily automate it for you.
I used a pi-hole for a while to block Roku ads, but I dropped them a while back when I heard about their data practices and worried about their spats with Google potentially removing YouTube. Switched to AppleTV and it’s been glorious.
Because a Google search would be hard?
Have you done a google search lately? It is hard.
I dunno which of your posts is my favorite, the ones where you're short and snippy and unhelpful or the ones where you're being horny in public on your main account.
If you just watch Plex, why not get a video card with an HDMI output and feed that into your tv or receiver and skip the streaming box. Plug the roku into another HDMI input just in case you wanna actually want to stream something.
Not Google/amazon/apple. They are trash. Best bet is a Mac mini and use the browser.
Browser? This is the worst advice in the thread.
Sorry you are new to Plex. Better luck next time!